


The Last of Us

by BandAidTea



Category: Little Women (2019), Little Women Series - Louisa May Alcott
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Angst, Character Death, F/M, Mutual Pining, Profanity, Suicidal Thoughts, Zombie Apocalypse, im so sorry for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:40:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25754494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BandAidTea/pseuds/BandAidTea
Summary: A door swung open from down the hall. The pair looked as a figure appeared in the doorway. It limped slowly towards them before full-on sprinting.Jo screamed.~~~~~~~~~~~Jo March and Friedrich Bhaer thru the Zombie Apocolypse.
Relationships: Friedrich Bhaer & Josephine March, Friedrich Bhaer/Josephine March
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	The Last of Us

**Author's Note:**

> ok, so this idea came to me because a group of friends envisioned a zombie apocalypse type fanfic. when I was writing it the idea of Jo and the professor came to mind so now here we are. I tried to write them in character as much as I could. please let me know what you think!

Jo was going to kill herself. Ok, that was an exaggeration. But she was going to jump out of this window. Specifically, Professor Bhaer’s office window. What the fuck was she thinking marching into his office, plopping herself on the chair, and then start sobbing about she couldn’t understand chemical equations? 

The Professor in question was looking at her with so much pity it angered her. First, she cries, and then he has the audacity to look at her with pity?? He was the whole reason she was in this mess. 

He offered her a tissue, which she took, blowing her nose rather noisily. He seemed to be observing her and a hint of amusement could be seen in his eyes. He had brown curly hair, glasses, and was wearing a patchy suit. He was young, probably in his early 30’s. He was kinda cute

She scowled, she didn’t need those kinds of thoughts right now. 

“Look, Miss, whatever help you may need, I can help you,” said Professor Bhaer, “there is no shame in asking for help”

Jo sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. He offered her another tissue. 

“I just, I don’t understand what the questions are asking me,” she said 

“ok, then start from there” he scooted himself closer to her, “so, the first question-”

He was interrupted by a large noise coming from outside the office. Jo and the professor looked at each other and then at the door. Another bang was heard. And then another. Until there was only silence. 

The Professor walked to the door and moved to open it when a blood-curdling scream was heard. 

Jo felt a chill run up her spine. The professor glanced back at her before opening the door. 

The hallway was empty as the professor stepped out into the hallway and looked around. Jo had moved from her chair to join the professor. 

A door swung open from down the hall. The pair looked as a figure appeared in the doorway. It limped slowly towards them before full-on sprinting. 

Jo screamed. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first month was hard. Jo scrounged for supplies and any food she could find. The Professor took to building a shelter and fiddling with a random radio they had found in the cafeteria. The zombies had not only invaded the university but also the entire world. 

The university had been divided up with many groups aiming to kill, zombie or no zombie, no matter what. 

The few that weren’t killing were in hiding. They refused to have any contact with anyone and how they were surviving was a mystery to Jo. 

Currently, Jo was in a random dorm room, searching for anything useful. She peered under the beds and in the closets being careful to make sure she wasn’t making any noise. She had her protective gear on, a mask that she had sewed in the tent the professor had made, magazines duct-taped to her arms, long pants, and a bat she had found while raiding a frat boys room. She made her way carefully out of the room. She had only found bandaids and an expired bag of what looked to be strawberries. 

As she was walking down the hallway, she heard a can rattle. Jo turned, just in time to see a zombie sprinting towards her, their teeth clacking, saliva dripping from the mouth. 

Jo ran and ran knowing the zombie was right behind her. She could hear the heavy breathing. 

Just as she ran around a corner, she heard a sickening thud and a body falling to the ground. She stopped and peered to see the professor pounding the zombie with his own bat, blood spewing everywhere. 

He stopped and looked up, making eye contact with Jo. 

“Thank you”

“No problem”

It was then she noticed how warm his eyes were. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the third month, they had fallen into a routine. Ever since the incident the first month, the Professor had insisted they go hunting for food and supplies together. So now every morning, they would go out for 2 hours searching for anything and then come back to base. They would eat whatever they had rationed, stock up, and take turns standing watch. In the afternoon, they would eat lunch, Jo would take a nap, and the professor would fiddle with the radio. By the time dinner would roll around, they would eat, play cards, and then take turns standing watch during the night. 

They had taken camp in the professor’s office, having discarded any unnecessary items long ago. 

One night, Jo distributed their dinner. Tomato soup from a can, and grilled cheese. It was a special treat since Jo had found bread that hadn’t gone to waste surprisingly enough, and cheese as well. The professor had kept a toaster in his office so Jo was able to cook at least something edible. 

The pair sat across from each other, munching on their sandwiches and sipping on the soup in silence before Jo spoke up. 

“Have you heard from any survivors?” she asked. 

The professor shook his head, “I haven’t heard from anyone”

Jo nodded. The last time they had contact with anyone was 3 weeks ago. Since then it has been radio silence. 

The professor swallowed before asking, “Jo, what was your major”

Jo stared at him. Since the apocalypse started, the only conversations they had were regarding supplies and shelter. Not once had the conversations turned personal. 

She looked down at her feet before answering. “It was English”

The professor nodded to her to continue. 

“I wanted to write a novel, the greatest novel ever” the professor noted how her eyes lit up, and a genuine excitement entered her face. 

‘She looks beautiful,” he thought 

“But I guess now that isn’t possible” she frowned and the professor noted how desperately he wanted to see her happy. 

“It’s still possible,” he found himself saying. Jo looked at him, her face showing skepticism. 

“Do I need to remind you we are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse”  
“So? After this is all over you can write about your experiences”

“......really?”

“Yes, really”

“Thank you, Professor Bhaer that means a lot to me”

The professor looked down before looking back at her, “Its Friedrich”

Jo looked bewildered, “What?”

“My name is Friedrich”

“Oh,” Jo paused before smiling at him “Thank you, Friedrich”

Friedrichs’s heart flip-flopped as he smiled back. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

A year and a half had passed since the outbreak had stated. Jo and Friedrich had traveled outside the university after supplies had dried up. They had packed up everything and had started walking north, where they had heard of a settlement for survivors. 

Since the discussion of Jo’s major, the two had become close. Each day, they revealed more and more of each other. 

Jo liked the color green

Friedrich hated coffee

Strawberries were Jo’s favorite fruit 

Friedrich had a peanut allergy 

Jo used to dance ballet before breaking her foot when she was 13

Friedrich loved the rain

And the list went on and on 

Jo hated to admit it but she had developed an infatuation with Friedrich. He was gentle, kind, and honest. He had a big heart, like when he had given an old lady they had found on the side of the road their last water jug. He told corny jokes when Jo was feeling really depressed that always made her laugh and speaking of laughter, his laugh was so pure and joy-inducing but…wait. Fuck. FUCK. she had fallen in love with Friedrich. Her former chemistry professor. FUCK

Friedrich, on the other hand, was dealing with the same dilemma. He didn’t know how but he had fallen for his former student. She was beautiful, creative, one of a kind just absolutely amazing. She was selfless, like how she saved him the last piece of candy even though it was her favorite, or how she was shy when he complimented her even if it was for just making an amazing dinner. 

And so the pair pined for each other and gazed from afar even when they walked closely together. They had already killed a lot of zombies while on their way to the settlement. Jo had struck a zombie in the head, crushing their skull when they had ventured a field of dead bodies. Friedrich had snapped another zombie's neck while he was reaching for a jug to clean.

By December, they had finally reached the north. They set up camp in a forest and Friedrich took out his faithful radio to try and find the channel that announced the settlement. Jo began taking out their last remaining supplies. She sighed. This settlement was their last hope. 

Friedrich called her and she settled down next to him. He had gathered his map and it was spread out in front of him. 

“It’s nearby”

She looked at him, wide-eyed. “It is?”

He nodded. “They announced the coordinates and it should be around here,” he pointed to an area on the map, “which isn’t far probably 5 miles”

He turned to her. “We are almost safe, almost there”

Jo laughed and hugged Friedrich, relief seeping through her bones. Friedrich stumbled and landed on his back with Jo on top of him. They hugged and laughed until they finally stopped and realized what position they were in. Jo looked into Friedrichs’s blue eyes, so expressive and beautiful. Friedrich kept staring at her lips, he wanted to kiss her so badly. He leaned in when they heard a rustling outside their tent. 

They immediately shot up and ran to their weapons, the moment forgotten. 

There was silence.

Jo looked at Friedrich and Friedrich looked at Jo. A sense of dread filled the air

All of a sudden, the flap of the tent opened and a zombie walked in. Jo immediately slammed her bat at him as another zombie came in, Friedrich moved and hit the zombie as well. 

Two dead. Two more added to the list. 

Silence filled the air again and there was a cry. Friedrich immediately went to the front of the tent. 

“FRIEDRICH WAIT” Jo screamed but just to see him immediately swarmed with Zombies. She screamed. 

“JO RUN”

Jo shook her head, tears streaming down her face, “NO I WON’T LEAVE YOU”

Friedrich hit a zombie and then tackled another as Jo ran to him, hitting zombies out of her path. She felt a sting on her ankle but she kept going long enough to see it was just a branch that had impaled her. 

“JO, RUN” 

Jo stopped, seeing him struggling to keep the zombies at bay. 

“JO RUN”

She stared at him and he nodded his head

And so she ran. She ran as fast as her legs could and she ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and a ran. The forest was dark and she couldn’t see a thing but she continued running. She ran until she couldn’t hear his shouts anymore. She ran until she couldn’t feel her legs and she collapsed near a tree. 

She cried. She cried for Friedrich who was most likely dead because she was too much of a coward to help him. She cried for herself. She cried for her family, her sisters Beth, Amy, and Meg. She cried for the life that could have been, with Friedrich by her side, safe and in love.

There were a rustling and footsteps. She stood up, getting her bat ready. She wasn’t going down without a fight. 

Freidrich appeared and she was so shocked she lost her footing and fell. Her ankle was killing her. 

“Freidrich?”

He had blood all over him and was limping. She scrambled back, getting her bat. He stopped. 

“I’m ok”

Jo looked at him. He looked normal and his eyes were still warm and kind. 

“.....Freidrich?”

He reached her and offered her his hand. She took it but then immediately sat down, wincing in pain. 

“What’s wrong?”

“My ankle, I got impaled by a fucking branch or something and it hurts”

“Can I look at it?”

Jo nodded her head and he took out his flashlight, (the one he always keeps in his pocket, she thought) and carefully looked at her foot and ankle. 

There was a big red, angry splotch, and what looked to be teeth marks. 

Jo’s heart dropped, she knew what this meant, and by the look on Freidrich’s face, he did too. 

“I got bitten”

And he looked at her with so much pity, she was transported back to that fateful day in his office so long ago. 

She started laughing and the look on his face made her laugh harder. 

“You think this is funny??? Jo, you got bitten!”

“I know”

“Then why are you laughing?”

Jo paused, “I don’t know”

She looked down at that ankle and then back at him, “You have to kill me” 

“What?”

“You have to kill me”

“NO, I can't”

“Freidrich, look at me! You have to kill me, it’s the only way”

He frantically shook his head, “What about your novel?”

“You have to kill me”

“I- I’m sorry”

Jo looked at him, confused, “for what?”

“For not protecting you! We wouldn’t be in this situation if I had protect-”

Jo reached towards him and cupped her hands around his face, “NO, NO, no I’m sorry I should have listened”

Freidrich looked at her, her hands were so warm and her beautiful face was illuminated by the moonlight. She looked like an angel. 

“I love you”

Jo smiled, her eyes filling with tears, “I love you too, god I love you”

They sat there holding each other until he leaned in for a kiss. 

They poured all their feelings into that kiss. Jo’s lips were so soft and he wanted to kiss her forever. This was goodbye. She kissed him deeply in return and with urgency. 

They parted and Jo nodded. 

Her eyes were filled with love when he killed her. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------


End file.
